Melting pot of technology and management

Study in Japan- Japan’s expertise in robotics, automobiles, electronics, aerospace and green technologies is one the many reasons for Indian students to choose ‘the land of the rising sun’ as their study destination. Disaster Management is another subject that has been on the radar of Indian students. “Japan is home to a lot of disasters such as earthquake, floods, landslides and a recent Tsunami. That inspires Japan to come up with disaster management techniques involving structural as well as non-structural measures. Therefore Japan is the place to learn the stream,” says Nitin Srivastava, a doctoral student of disaster management in Japan’s Kyoto University. Nitin bagged Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) scholarships by Government of Japan to do PhD in Environmental Management from Kyoto University, Japan.

The increased flow of Indian students is reflected in the strengthening of bilateral ties as well. “The Japan government has targeted India as one of the strategic countries this year,” said Hideki Yonekawa, Vice President, Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO), an independent administrative institution established under MEXT.

Japanese government has come up with Global 30 project, an initiative that aims to invite 300,000 foreign students to Japan by 2020. The Japanese government has selected 13 universities under this project. These universities are also offering degree programmes in English to break the language barrier.

In this series, #Eye on the Globe, we present you Japan as a destination for education. Find all your answers regarding Japan - the best colleges, top courses, admission cycle and how much you need to invest to get a high- quality degree from the country.

Q.Estimate of the number of Indian students in Japan?A. According to Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO), in the year 2012, the number of Indian students in Japan was 541, which increased to 560 in 2013, and the number is steadily marking an increase.

Q. Why is Japan a destination for education?A. Ranit Chatterjee, a Monbukagakusho research scholar who is pursing doctoral research on disaster management at Kyoto University, points out that Japan has been a favourite destination for Indian students for almost a century now and provides world-class education with a few of the universities in Japan making it to the top 50 universities across the world. “The country offers a visual treat to every eye and creates unforgettable memories in the heart with its beautiful shrines, zen gardens and cascading rivers,” added Ranit.

Moreover, to increase diversity, Japanese universities have started offering courses in English. Also, tuition fees at Japanese universities are relatively less than many other popular study abroad destinations.

Q. Which are most preferred courses for international students in Japan? What about Indian students?A. “It depends on the county; Chinese students choose business-related courses. Indian students usually come for engineering and business. In engineering, robotics is picking up fast,” said Kiyofumi Kawaguchi-Chancellor of Ritsumeikan University, Japan. Established in 1900, Ritsumeikan accommodates around 48,000 students and has two universities with campuses in Kyoto, Shiga, Hokkaido, and Oita. This year Ritsumeikan University has about 35 Indian students on its campus.

Q. What is the admission cycle in Japan?A. The sessions usually begin in four terms; in the months of January, April, July and October. Application process begins around eight months prior to the beginning of the course. And, the visa application needs to be submitted around four months before the desired semester start.

Q. What are the job prospects for an Indian student after completing studies there?A. There are about 1000 Japanese companies like Sony, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Marubeni, Toshiba, Itochu, Hitachi, Mitsui, Nissan that are already expanding in India. It looks like the number of Japanese companies in India is going to rise as companies like Toyo Denki Real, Shiseido, Rakuten, Sakura, en-Japan and a few more are planning to invest in India soon. In terms of job prospects, many Japanese companies have started eyeing Indian market and hence they want to hire Indians with understanding of Japan’s culture and language.

Q. Which are the universities most popular among Indian students?A. According to The Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2014, the University of Tokyo is on number one in Asia, followed by Kyoto University at number 7. Other Japanese universities which made to the top 100 in this ranking are Tokyo Institute of Technology, Osaka University, Tohoku University, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Nagoya University, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, University of Tsukuba, Hokkaido University, Kyushu University, Juntendo University, Waseda University, Osaka City University, Keio University, Hiroshima University, Kobe University, Okayama University, Kanazawa University, and Chiba University.

Q. What is the duration of courses in Japan?A. For Undergraduate programmes, the duration is 4 years with the exception of medicine, dentistry and veterinary science department, which require six years of study. For Master's programme the duration is generally two years while a Doctor's programme requires five years to complete.

Q. Which region (city) attracts the most number of Indian students?A. Large cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto are extremely safe and easy to get around with excellent public transportation system, which includes shinkansen, the bullet trains of Japan. “Kyoto, it the most student-friendly city in Japan,” said Kawaguchi of Ritsumeikan University.

Q. What role does the location play in a student’s preference for education in Japan?A. In Asia, Japan plays a geopolitically significant role in balancing the emerging powers of China and India. An education in Current Affairs, Economics, Arts and Humanities in Japan will provide a unique insight into international relations between Asia’s powers and their impact on the region and the world.

Q.What is the cost of education in Japan?A. According to JASSO, the average monthly expenses (including academic fees) of an international student vary from 114,000 yen to 154,000 depending on the city or region. On an average, monthly living cost is around 860 yen, excluding course fee.

Q. Is there a mechanism, which eases one’s search for financial needs?A. To lighten the financial burden, almost every university offers scholarships/waivers to deserving students. A few notable scholarships provided by the Japanese Government are: Japanese Government Scholarship for Young Leader’s Program for students pursuing master’s programme in the field of Public Administration, Local Governance, Law and Business Administration. It includes an allowance of 242,000 yen per month. Candidates are exempted from fees for the entrance examination, matriculation and tuition; and candidates might be provided with accommodation by the corresponding institution.

Monbukagakusho Scholarship for College of Technology Students or MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) is for the undergraduate students to study various technology programmes in Japan. The value of the award is 117,000 Yen per month.

Questions related to Japan

please go through the VISA guideline and check for the eligibility. The main part is interview and document provided is correct. For document list, please visit the webpage of the organization. You will get all the details or visit nearby embassy for that.

Rejection reason can be anything and can only be known when a person goes through it. Interview is tough and yet tricky. Ask any experienced person who have visited the organization for VISA.

In India the cities are divided into different tiers, if you are from a town which comes under 4 or 5 tier its considered as a small town. Earning around 50,000 is considered rich, now coming to towns which come under 2 or 3 tiers, earning about 1,00,000 is considered rich in these cities. Now finally the 1 tier cities like metro cities( Delhi and Mumbai) earning 1 lakh and more is considered rich.

In case of USA, American's say that if you want to be considered rich then you should have annual income of about $1,00,000.

In case of Norway, 28,000 NOK or 3500 USD per month is considered as average salary in Norway. Anything above that is considered rich in Norway.

In case of Luxembourg , salaries around and above 6000 and 7000 euro is considered rich and high class in Luxembourg with high standard of living.

Lastly in Japan if an individual has an early income of more than 4.5 million yen is considered as rich in Japan.

America had dropped two atom bomb at Japan during world war 2. That was due to japan wanted to establish its power in Pacific region so, it attacked at pearl harbor even though america was out of WW2 at that time. This incident was surprising for america. So in revenge they dropped two atom bomb at japan named LITTLE BOY.

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